SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The fourth-seeded Bryant baseball team heads to Vestal, N.Y., this week for the 2026 America East Baseball Championships sponsored by Visit Binghamton.

Bryant enters the conference tournament as No. 4 seed and will face No. 5 seed UMass Lowell in one of two single-elimination games on Wednesday, May 20 at 1:00 p.m.. No. 3 Maine and No. 6 UAlbany will play at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday with the winner's advancing to the double-elimination portion of the championship that begins Thursday morning. Top-seeded Binghamton and No. 2 seed UMBC received byes into Thursday's action.     

The Particulars
Dates: May 20-24
Location: Bearcats Baseball Complex (Vestal, N.Y.)
Tournament Page: AmericaEast.com
Live Stats: Sidearm
Video: ESPN+
Game Notes: Bryant
Social Media: Facebook | X | Instagram | #AEBASE  

Tournament Field

No. 1 seed - Binghamton
No. 2 seed - UMBC
No. 3 seed - Maine
No. 4 seed - Bryant
No. 5 seed - UMass Lowell
No. 6 seed - UAlbany

Bryant vs. The Field

• Bryant went 13-11 during the regular season, posting an 7-5 mark at home and a 6-6 mark on the road.
• The Black and Gold won 5-of-8 series on the year. Bryant went 3-0 vs UML, 2-1 vs UAlbany, 4-2 vs NJIT, 1-2 vs UMBC and Maine and 2-4 vs Binghamton.
• Bryant's 11 losses included four games in which the Black and Gold gave up a lead with six outs or less left in the game. The Bulldogs gave up six in the top of the ninth vs NJIT on Mar. 27, seven in the fifth inning of a seven-inning game vs Binghamton on Apr. 18, eight in the seventh inning in game two of a DH vs the Bearcats and two in the top of the ninth vs UMBC on May 9.
• Bryant is 12-8 all-time vs No. 1 seed Binghamton. The Bulldogs won a home series over Binghamton in March but were swept in Vestal in April. The two programs met in the 2025 America East Championship, with Binghamton earning a 6-5 victory in 11 innings.
• Bryant is 12-5 all-time vs No. 2 seed UMBC. The Bulldogs lost 2-of-3 to UMBC at Conaty Park two weeks ago. Bryant and UMBC played in the 2024 America East Championship, a 15-10 win for the Bulldogs.
• Bryant is 11-8 all-time vs No. 3 seed Maine. The Bulldogs dropped 2-of-3 in Orono at the beginning of April. Bryant scored twice in the top of the ninth to win game one, while Maine took the final two games of the series 11-5 and 5-2.
• Bryant is 13-10 in the Division I series with No. 5 seed UMass Lowell. The Bulldogs swept a three-game series in Lowell this season, winning 8-5, 5-3 and 4-2. Bryant and UML have met twice in the America East Tournament, with UML winning an single-elimination game (6-0) in 2023 and the Bulldogs grabbing an 8-4 to start their 2024 championship run.
• Bryant is 16-4 in the all-time series with No. 6 seed UAlbany. The Bulldogs sandwiched a pair of 15-5 victories around a 6-3 loss in a series victory at home. Bryant and UAlbany met twice in the America East Tournament last season. The Great Danes earned an 11-6 win in the first round before Bryant eliminated UAlbany with an 8-2 win.

Bryant in the conference tournament

• Bryant is 27-16 in conference tournaments at the DI level. The Bulldogs went 21-13 as a member of the NEC and are 6-3 in the America East.
• Bryant dropped its first playoff game as an America East member in 2023, falling to UML 6-0 in the single-elimination round. 
• Bryant swept through the 2024 America East Tournament to claim its first title. The Bulldogs defeated UML (8-4), UMBC (4-1 and 15-10).
• Last season, Bryant fell to UAlbany in the first game before defeating NJIT (4-1) and UAlbany (8-2) to reach the championship round. The Bulldogs defeated Binghamton (7-3) in game one but fell 6-5 in 11 innings in the championship. 
• The Bulldogs have served as the No. 1 (10 times), No. 2 seed (once), No. 3 seed (once) and No. 4 seed (once) in 13 postseason appearances (including this year). This is Bryant's lowest conference finish in DI program history.
• Bryant has advanced to the championship round nine times, winning championships in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2024. The Bulldogs have lost in the decisive game in 2015, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2025.
• The Black and Gold have gone 3-0 to win the title three times (2014, 2016, 2024), while it needed to win four straight elimination games to claim the 2013 title. 

Bulldog Notes and Notables

• Bryant finished the regular season with a 27-24 overall record, going just 13-16 over its final 29 games.
• In America East play, Bryant finished the regular season fourth in average (.276), fifth in runs (148), first in doubles (48), tied-2nd in home runs (21), 2nd in slugging (.431) and 3rd in OBP (.376). Bryant went 61-of-69 in stolen bases to lead the league by a wide margin.
• Bryant's 145 stolen bases are tied for the most in a single season in America East history with Northeastern (1991). The Bulldogs rank 8th nationally with 2.84 stolen bases per game.
• As a staff, Bryant ranked third with a 4.76 ERA and walked a league-low 92 batters. The Bulldogs ranked second in opponent batting average (.254).
• Ellis Garcia led the way for the Black and Gold, ranking 2nd in the America East in average (.342), 1st in slug (.636), 5th in OBP (.449), 1st in OPS (1.085), 5th in RBI (44), 6th in doubles (13), 2nd in triples (4) and 4th in home runs (11).
• Casey Wensley enters the postseason as the America East leader in runs scored (57) and stolen bases (30). He hit .318 on the year with 14 doubles, five triples, 30 RBI and 34 walks. In league play, Wensley hit .330 with 22 walks and a .466 OBP.
• Carlos Irizarry came on strong down the stretch, ending the regular season with a .329 average, 12 doubles, five home runs, 28 RBI and 35 runs scored.
• Gavin Greger and Justin Hackett also had strong showings to end the regular season. Greger is hitting a career-best .315 with 26 RBI, 22 runs scored and 19 stolen bases, while Hackett is hitting .277 with a career-high eight home runs and 28 RBI.
• Hackett has also shined defensively, boasting a .969 fielding percentage as Bryant's everyday shortstop.
• Charlie Saul (.294, 12 2B, 7 HR, 36 RBI, 35 R, 18 SB) and Hunter Kingsbury (.275, 10 2B, 3 HR, 31 RBI, 30 R, 20 SB) have also excelled this year at the plate.
• On the mound, Bryant has used a myriad of arms to get through key injuries. Kaden Hilburger led the way on Friday's with a 4.25 ERA, 38 strikeouts and just 15 walks in 59.1 innings, while Cole Schiff (4.23 ERA, 27.2 IP, 29H, 15BB, 26SO), Ty Davis (5.22 ERA, 5-2, 50.0 IP, 44H, 28BB, 46SO), Dylan Scudder (7.13, 3-3, 35.1 IP, 44H, 16BB, 22SO) and Jackson Vanesko (9.95, 25.1 IP, 37H, 18BB, 15SO) have all started at least seven games.
• Sean Zaslaw (2-2, 2 SV, 3.92, 20.2 IP, 23H, 6BB, 23SO), Aidan Vining (2-1, 1 SV, 2.53, 21.1 IP, 18H, 7BB, 18SO), Thomas Galusha (2-0, 1.35, 13.1 IP, 7H, 5BB, 12SO) and Justin Dressler (6.20, 20.1 IP, 20H, 9BB, 10SO) have all pitched key innings for the Bulldogs in America East play.

Scouting the Field

• Earned its first outright America East title since 2017 -- its seventh overall. Will be the No. 1 seed for the first time since 2017 and will be hosting as the top seed for the first time since 2010.
• The Bearcats started 1-3 in conference play before rattling off 11-straight conference wins. That included a sweep of Bryant in which the Bearcats used a pair of big innings to sweep a Saturday doubleheader.
• In conference play, Binghamton ranked 2nd in hitting (.289), first in scoring (7.4 runs per game), 4th in pitching (5.63) first in strikeouts (182) and 3rd in fielding (.973).
• Matt Bolton leads the way, hitting .339 with 14 doubles, four triples, five home runs, 41 RBI, 43 runs scored, 15 stolen bases and a .983 OPS. 
• Tommy Popoff drove in a team-high 52 runs with a team-leading seven home runs, while Sean Sweeney ended the regular season hitting .374 with a .468 OBP.
• Binghamton's pitching staff is headlined by Conner Griffin who posted a 5.33 ERA, 37 walks and 58 strikeouts in 52.1 innings. Opponents hit just .219 off the hard-throwing righty.
• Mason Holloway (AE - 4.03 ERA, 29.0 IP, 9BB, 25SO), Jackson Mitchell (6.93 ERA, 24.2 IP, 11BB, 21SO) also started on the weekend.

• UMBC went 7-2 over the final three weekends of league play to secure a top-two seed for the second time in three seasons. 
• The Retrievers led the league with a .298 team average and scored 7.1 runs per game. UMBC collected 44 doubles, 21 home runs and struck out a league-low 129 times.
• UMBC ranked 2nd in the league in ERA (4.61) and 6th in fielding (.959).
• UMBC is led by Ehi Okojie who hit .313 with 17 doubles, 12 home runs, 58 RBI, 46 runs scored and a .986 OPS. In league play, Okojie hit eight home runs and drove in 32 while striking out just 11 times in 97 at-bats.
• Danny Orr hit .396 in league play, while Dylan Melton (.344, 17RBI, .451OBP), Anthony Mascuilli (.322, 20R, .482OBP) and Danny Wyatt (.312, 3HR, 22RBI) also hit .300+.
• On the mound, UMBC featured one of the league's deepest staffs in league play led by Eddie Sargent (5-0, 3.09 ERA, 43.2 IP, 16BB, 26SO), Brady Fox (2-3, 5 SV, 2.88, 25.0 IP, 17H, 15BB, 32SO), Kailen Hackmann (5-0, 3.72, 19.1 IP, 12BB, 20SO), Brady LeJeune-DeAcutis (4.15, 26.0 IP, 14BB, 14SO), Zach Robinson (3-3, 5.18, 40.0, 12BB, 24SO) and Sergio Droz (6.53, 20.2, 15BB, 16SO).

• Maine set itself up for a possible chance at the No. 1 seed with a series victory at Binghamton but was swept at home by UMass Lowell the following week and eventually fell to third. 
• The Black Bears rank fifth in the league in average (.273) and first in home runs (29).
• Maine leads the league with a 4.27 ERA, allowing opponents to hit a league-low .253. The Black Bears also lead the league with a .981 fielding percentage, making just 17 errors in 24 games.
• Maine is led by the slugging trio of Juju Stevens (10 2B, 14 HR, 38 RBI), Hunter St. Denis (10 HR, 38 RBI) and Troy Carpenter (14 HR, 48 RBI). St. Denis and second baseman Nic Pepe each hit six home runs in America East play.
• On the mound, Jason Krieger leads the way with a 3.42 ERA in eight league starts. He allowed 46 hits, walked 17 and struck out 30 in 50.0 innings. 
• Pierce Friedman (2.92 ERA, 24.2 IP, 16H, 17BB, 16SO) has made nine relief appearances, while Sebastian Holt has picked up three saves.

• UMass Lowell closed out the year on a high note, sweeping Maine and then picking up a victory over Binghamton on the final weekend.
• UML ranked third in the league in average (.284), third in scoring and second in stolen bases (30). 
• On the mound, UML was seventh in the league in ERA (6.44) and allowed a league-high .286 opponent batting average. The River Hawks were fourth in the league with a .965 fielding percentage.
• Sean O'Leary (.309, 59H, 82B, 8HR, 37RBI, 53R) and Rowan Masse (.305, 92B, 51R) hit over .300, while Carlos Martinez has 14 doubles, five home runs, 38 RBI and 35 runs scored.
• Nicholas Solarzano has hit three home runs and driven in 10 over the last four games.
• Alfred Mucciarone has been a workhorse for UML, posting a 3-3 record a 4.89 ERA in 42.1 innings. He has allowed 50 hits, 10 walks and 26 strikeouts. Mucciarone threw a pair of complete games, including a 129-pitch CG at Maine two weeks ago. He allowed seven runs (five earned) on eight hits over 5.1 innings vs Bryant earlier this year.
• Jake LeFrancois (2.60, 34.2 IP, 15BB, 23SO), Nolan Geisler (3-1, 19 app, 5.44, 48.0 IP, 13BB, 31SO) and Brian Foley (42.1 IP, 33BB, 59SO) have been the key arms for the River Hawks.

• UAlbany won an elimination game last season, defeating No. 4 Maine behind Dylan Banner. Banner is slated to go again this year and is one of the league's premier arms.
• The Great Danes ranked sixth in the league in average (.270), sixth in ERA (6.08) and seventh in fielding (.947).
• Michael Maggio leads the team with a .323 average, 18 stolen bases and 32 runs scored. Tre Mariano (.301, 102B, 7HR, 29RBI) and Levi McAllister (30RBI) are the top two run producers in the UAlbany lineup.
• Banner is the main attraction, however, having posted a 2.55 ERA in seven league starts. He threw three complete games, allowed 45 hits, walked eight and struck out 38 in 53.0 innings. Opponents hit just .213 off the big righty.
• Matthew Mariano (4.17, 36.2 IP, 38H, 11BB, 19SO) has been a bulk reliever that proved to be one of the league's top relief arms.